Kenneth Kenneth

Kenneth Kenneth

VFX TD / Software Developer

Senior Technical Director / 24 yrs

San Francisco, CA

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Senior Pipeline Technical Director

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)

FX / Pipeline TD

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Pipeline Technical Director

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Pipeline TD

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Flocking Artist

Ender's Game (2013)

Effects Animator

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Technical Developer

TRON: Legacy (2010)

Effects Technical Director

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)

Technical Developer

2012 (2009)

Effects Technical Director

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

CG Effects Animator

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Visual Effects Supervisor

Death Ride (2006)

CG Effects Artist

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

FX TD

Superman Returns (2006)

Lighting TD

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

CG Color & Lighting Artist

I, Robot (2004)

Technical Developer

Peter Pan (2003)

FX TD

X-Men 2 (2003)

FX TD

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Lead Visual Effects Artist

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Effects

Shrek (2001)

Application Engineer

Alias (1999)

RoboScreen choreography animation and tool development for high profile venues including Royal Caribbean state-of-the-art cruise ships and megastar concerts.

Indie game and 4D (AR) experience creation and related tool development in Unity3D. Evaluation and execution of Unity3D-related workflows and pipeline integration in a growing production environment.

15+ years in the fields of games and visual effects spanning a number of studios both in Japan and the US involving shot work, artist tool and pipeline development. Additionally involved in Web development using LAMP and Django including Twitter & Facebook apps as well as mobile app development for both iOS & Android.

Conversational fluency in Japanese.

Companies:
andyRobot - The Hohng Company - DAQRI - Digital Domain - R&H - Cinesite - Tippett - PDI - Square - AsylumFX - Hydraulx - SEGA - Alias|Wavefront

Software & Renderers:
Maya - Houdini - Nuke - Massive - Mantra - VRay - Renderman

Development:
Python - MEL - HScript - Tcl - PHP - JavaScript - CSS - Lua - C#

Personal:
music production - languages (Japanese, Assyrian, Arabic, Italian) - mobile app development - sports (soccer, frisbee)
Work History
  • Senior Pipeline Technical Director

    Lucasfilm

    November 2020 - Present
    San Francisco
  • technical director

    Atomic Fiction

    February 2018 - May 2018
  • technical director

    Atomic Fiction

    October 2017 - November 2017
  • Kelvin Optical

    May 2016 - June 2017
  • Pipeline Technician, FX TD

    Kelvin Optical (c/o Bad Robot)

    October 2015 - June 2016
    Santa Monica, CA

    Facility pipeline development and occasional FX shot work.

  • Head of Development and Infrastructure

    andyRobot

    August 2014 - October 2015
    Santa Monica, CA

    Technical leadership partner in core team driving sales and development of Robot Animator® toolset for Autodesk® Maya® for KUKA, ABB and Yaskawa robots. Head of development of the core software product central to the business, business strategy/planning, field support, infrastructure management and website development/maintenance.

  • Game Developer & Integrator

    The Hohng Company

    August 2014 - August 2015
    Greater Los Angeles Area

    Develop and publish indie game series using the Unity3D real-time game engine including code development and maintenance in C#, music recording and production, graphics manipulation in Photoshop and game play consultation.

  • Senior Designer, Client Solutions Group

    Daqri

    January 2014 - August 2014
    Downtown LA

    4D (Augmented Reality) experience creation for both internal and client projects, primarily using Unity3D and the DAQRI Core Behavior toolset. Feature prototyping and tool development using C# in Unity3D for future system releases. Evaluation of Unity3D integration into a growing production environment and related pipeline development including scripted tools for the production team.

  • Senior Pipeline / FX Technical Director

    Digital Domain

    August 2003 - July 2013
    Venice, CA

    Performed various tasks on multiple projects over a 10 year period including tours of duty in both the FX and pipeline departments. Please refer to the project descriptions below for details.

  • President

    Shuri-Ken Creative Services, Inc.

    January 2008 - January 2010
    Santa Monica, CA

    A technology consulting company providing services in the areas of visual effects for film and video, web development and mobile device content development.

  • Technical Director

    Moving Pixels

    March 2008 - May 2008
    Santa Monica, CA

    Developed particle-based systems for both falling snow and snow interacting with cars in Maya. Rendered with Maya's Hardware Render Buffer for Flame artist usage.
    Also helped integrate legacy Maya tools into the shop's pipeline using MEL.

  • Technical Director

    Hydraulx

    July 2007 - August 2007
    Santa Monica, CA

    Developed and executed FX and lighting tasks for a car commercial in Maya and Mental Ray. Also helped streamline the pipeline.

  • Technical Director

    Rhythm & Hues Studios

    February 2006 - April 2006
    Playa Del Rey, CA

    Worked on the FX team using Houdini and R&H's proprietary volume renderer.

  • Technical Director

    Asylum FX

    March 2005 - May 2005
    Santa Monica, CA

    Worked on the lighting team using Maya and RenderMan.

  • Technical Director

    Cinesite

    January 2003 - April 2003
    Hollywood, CA

    Worked on the FX team using Maya and RenderMan.

  • FX Artist

    Tippett Studio

    August 2002 - January 2003
    Berkeley, CA

    Worked on the FX team using Maya and RenderMan.

  • FX Artist

    Square Pictures

    December 2000 - August 2001
    Honolulu, HI

    Worked on the FX team using Maya and RenderMan.

  • FX Animator/Developer

    DreamWorks Animation

    March 1999 - November 2000
    Palo Alto, CA

    Worked as an FX artist and lighter in both the CAFE and features groups using Maya and PDI proprietary tools. Projects include Shrek, BestBuy Christmas & SEGA DreamCast commercials. Work included animation and rendering of pixie dust, normal dust, crumbling buildings, and development of various Maya and proprietary API tools.

  • Application Engineer

    Alias|wavefront

    December 1995 - January 1999
    San Francisco Bay Area

    Product specialist for Maya and PowerAnimator
    - Demos, support, training
    - Custom MEL tools development for customers
    - English/Japanese liason tasks
    - Implementation and maintenance of office web page

  • Technical Developer

    SEGA Japan

    March 1994 - December 1995
    Tokyo, Japan

    - Developed games software tools
    - Created CG for TV commercials & amusement park rides using Softimage
    - Occasionally acted as liason between English & Japanese speakers

Education
  • EECS in Computer Engineering

    Santa Clara University

    1986 - 1990